Typically, YA Contemporaries will have the same plot: pretty mean girl suffers from some traumatic event and eventually realizes that there is more to life than being beautiful. Does this story follow the same concept? Yes, but it's done in a unique way with the traumatic incident being Leprosy.

Abby is a popular mean girl at school who has her two best friends by her side as she goes through her senior year. All she wants to do is go to USC on a cheerleading scholarship. She starts dating a terrible guy just because he's hot and on the basketball team, and then is surprised when he dumps her because she's too mean. Abby and her friends have bitch fests in the cafeteria where the criticize their classmates who walk by.

She also has a brother who has a secret life. They are not friendly towards each other at all and I would honestly say that they can't even stand each other. But when an emergency happens, Abby is there for Dean and says she will keep his secrets for him. Their relationship is still strained, but better. It is definitely very complicated.

Once her diagnosis is confirmed, everyone around her except for her family basically distances themselves from her. Her so called "best friends" completely cut her out of their lives because she's not pretty enough to be around them. I thought that was really terrible and shows what kind of people she was friends with. Abby has to be sent to a facility where they are equipped to care for her, and it's there where she truly learns what is important in life.

I really enjoyed Abby's time in Carterville at the treatment facility. She learns that she's not alone and that all hope is not lost for her future. Her characterization was so well done from beginning to end. She really went from a shallow mean girl to someone who cared more about those around her.

But the most informative part of the book for me was learning about Hansen's disease. Honestly, I had no idea leprosy still existed in the United States, but 5% of the population is apparently at risk for it.

If you like these types of stories where the mean girl finds herself, but want something new, this will be the book for you.

Great read. Broaches an uncommon subject and offers an often untalked about topic in a modern way. The main character is reminiscent of popular girls I remember in school, so it's refreshing to see her character growth and the ending is lovely.

Thanks to NG for a an ARC of this book! Interesting story but nothing new here. Abby, a "mean" high school girl teases others with her group of friends. She contracts a terrible illness and reevaluates her life throughout her treatment and recovery. Her old friends kind of abandon her and she slowly learns that her old way of life was wrong and she was a spoiled brat before her illness. The ARC was hard to read which really took away from getting the whole story and message. This is a revamped version of many YA books out there with the same type of story--mean girl reformed after being hit with her own misfortune. Good but not overwhelming. Need to fix the ARC issues before publishing!

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. There was a few issues with the format as I tried to read it on my kindle. But i stuck with it know that it could and would be fixed before its release. This is a novel about a mean girl who spends her time with friends making fun of other. In some act of karma she get Hansen's Disease and to Louisiana for treatment. This is of course after her friend abandon her. This is about her own self-discovery and what she has been doing to other now that she is on the receiving end of the same treatment.

I was surprised by this book. At first, I thought the word Leper referred to being ostracized by her friends, but in this story, they really meant that the main character has leprosy. I did not even know you could really get that in this day and age, so that threw me a little bit.

Abby is basically the mean girl who gets the table turned on her. Pretty typical story, but I found myself feeling very bad for her, as she gets some of her own medicine back.

The writing was okay. I found it a bit slow at times and a bit juvenile at times, but enough to keep me interested.

This was an average read for me.

The Quick Cut: A girl seemingly has it all: looks, amazing best friends, and popularity when she starts getting red spots on her skin that can't be cured. Eventually, she's diagnosed and ends up with her world turned upside down - realizing that what she used to have doesn't mean much at all.

A Real Review:

Thank you to Penguin Teen for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Abby Furlowe has it all: looks, popularity, best friends, and cheerleading. She's your overly stereotypical mean girl in the way that her best friends pick on anyone who isn't like them and her goal in life is to become an actress in California. However, her life and its mirage comes falling apart when some red marks appear on her skin that no doctor is able to cure.

Things continue to get worse with no medication or cream helping the situation until an unfortunate chearleading accident - and then the disease ramps into high gear. Its then that its discovered that Abby has Hansen's Disease, or as many know it be... Leprosy. In order for Abby to be cured, she gets sent to Louisana to receive medication and therapy. The friends that she thought she could depend on completely disappear and her looks are absolutely gone. With everything slipping away, what's left of this shallow girl and can she remake her life again?

If this story sounds really familiar, its because it is. This is not a very creative shell of a story here with the mean girl taught the lesson about what matters about life. However, there are some redeeming qualities to this story worth pointing out that do make it a fun, flirty read. Abby has a very complicated relationship with her brother, Dean. These two start out as total enemies who can never seem to get along with one another. As Abby gets diagnosed and Dean's life gets complicated, these two lean to work out their sibling hatred. Not only do they get along, they actually help each other out. I also enjoyed the format of this book with it being more in the form of talking rather than your typical chapters style. It has these breaks between small sections to keep things easy to chew off and stop as desired.

There are many issues with these book too though - plenty enough that they cannot be ignored. Abby is very bratty in the beginning and almost too much of a stereotype to the point its hard to swallow. Other characters continuously point out how shallow and empty of a person she is and although I know this was added to point out her flaws, it really served to point out the book's flaws.

In addition, the romantic angles with both Dustin and Scott were really mismanaged. Dustin starts out as a real hot option of a guy with a heart and then ends up disappearing off the romantic radar without so much as a reason why. Really? Considering how he ends up serving the story, I really think they should've just left him as a good friend and skipped the flirting altogether. As for Scott - he plays such an important role for Abby in making her comfortable post-diagnosis and learning to cope with her new life. However, we never really learn much about his backstory or his life beyond boot camp. Its a missed opportunity that by the end of the book I really found myself longing over. A LOT.

Even with its multiple missed moments and plot points, this story about a mean girl gone good has its redeeming moments and is well worth the fun read if you're looking for a quick book.

Title: Confessions of a Teenage Leper
Author: Ashley Little
My Rating: 4 Stars

What it's about:

Abby Furlowe is a mean girl. She’s pretty. She’s popular. She’s a cheerleader. But when she accidentally contracts Hansen’s Disease (more commonly known as Leprosy) she finds her life turning upside down.

What I liked:

I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about leprosy, especially one set in the modern day, so it was a nice change of pace. It was refreshing to watch Abby grow so much a person throughout her struggles too. She definitely had a ton of character development. On top of a great story, this novel was packed with information about the disease and it’s history. I definitely learned some things I didn’t know, it was an eye opening experience. Some of the character back stories were tragic, and definitely pulled at the heartstrings. I also really loved the side story of her brother. Honestly, I would an entire novel all about Dean and his shenanigans.

What I disliked:

I wish that Abby hadn’t started out as a stereotypical cheerleader. I also would have liked to have seen her interacting with some less-than-popular kids at her school prom in the end. I feel like that would have really reinforced her character development, seeing it in action.

Overview:

So much thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this novel. It was entertaining, and informative, and it definitely kept me interested until the end.

This was a new kind of story for me. Name a type of teenage issue and I've probably read about it. But I can honestly say, I've never read a book where one of the characters has Leprosy, or Hansen's Disease as it's referred to in the story.
Abby is your typical mean girl. She's a beautiful cheerleader who runs with only the popular kids and is obsessed with looks. Anything less than perfection gets a sneer and a condescending remark from Abby and her band of BFFs. Her life is pretty much perfect, so when she develops a small rash she's not overly concerned. Even when it starts to spread and other symptoms pop up, she never imagines it could be anything major.
And then she finally receives her diagnosis...Hansen's Disease/aka Leprosy. All of a sudden her whole world is turned upside down. And she's no longer one of the pretty people. Shipped off to a special facility for treatment, she starts to see that maybe looks aren't everything.
I didn't like Abby for much of this story. I thought she was a self-centered, mean little snot. But that's okay. Because you don't have to love a character. The point is that the author makes you feel SOMETHING about them.

There's nothing particularly new about Confessions of a Teenage Leper. It's your classic story about a mean high school girl who, through personal misfortune, learns that there is more to life than beauty and popularity.

That being said, I enjoyed this book for what it was. Ashley Little does a great job of conveying the high school experience in a way that felt all too cringe-worthy and relatable. I also appreciated that I learned more about Hansen's Disease than I knew previously and I think it was a good choice of affliction for the protagonist, Abby, so that people can be more clearly educated about what the disease really is and how it still affects people today.

I felt that the side plots, specifically the one regarding Abby's brother, Dean, were a little baffling and didn't contribute a terrible amount to the overall story. We find out a couple of very extreme things about his character that should (and would, in the real world) have way more consequences than were shown here in this book. It seemed as though perhaps they were added for shock value alone, as they didn't propel the story forward.

This book doesn't reinvent the genre of YA 'high school mean girl turned good,' but it's an easy read that younger readers and teens will probably find enjoyable - even if they can predict the outcome.

I received this ARC as a courtesy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Not only did I love this story and appreciated the unique vehicle prompting growth and change, I also learned too! I had no idea this was even a thing people could still get, and the amount of information about the disease gave the journey of the heroine so much more depth. I recommend this unique story to all teens and YA fans. Well done spin on a familiar story!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE LEPER by Ashley Little in exchange for my honest review. The Kindle ARC was so poorly formatted reading was nearly impossible. Nearly every page had one of the words “advanced reader copy” in capital letters in the middle of the page.

3 STARS

Abby, a mean girl cheerleader, receives a visit from karma in the form of leprosy. After being diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) Abby begins treatment at a clinic in Louisiana where she comes to terms with her illness and reevaluates her life.

I enjoyed this book, but only because of the subplots that rounded it out. While the idea of someone getting diagnosed with leprosy was unique, it would have been a better story if this illness was more of a mystery, than the main title of the book. I especially enjoyed the relationship that Abby had with her brother, even more so when his character was explored more in depth.

I am disappointed with Abby and Dustin's relationship. During reading, I thought that their relationship arc was going to expand more, only for him to almost get completely written out of the second half of the book. Also, I don't know if I missed this information, but why did we not ever find out why Scott was at the boot camp.

Overall, this was an interesting story and I read this book in one sitting. I would recommend this to my friends looking for something "different".

This book left me feeling hopeful. In the beginning, it’s so easy to write the main character off as being one-dimensional or shallow, but this is intentional. With discovering she has Hansen’s disease (due to a bizarre church picnic incident years prior), she embarks on a journey that leads her to humility and resurfaces her character to show what qualities she truly embodies.

This was a great blend of levity, teen drama, and most importantly, heartfelt connections that makes one feel that it’s never too late to re-evaluate paths and to simply be better.

This was an interesting story of Abby, a “mean girl” in high school, who contracted Hansen’s Disease, previously known as leprosy. Abby and her friends spent time making fun of others, and when she became ill, her friends abandoned her. When she goes to Louisiana for treatment, she learns the real meaning of life.

The story was good and I’ll recommend it to my students. I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE LEPER by Ashley Little in exchange for my honest review.***

*The Kindle ARC was so poorly formatted reading was nearly impossible. Nearly every page had one of the words “advanced reader copy” in capital letters in the middle of the text interrupting the flow. I almost quit reading several times due to formatting. If I hadn’t enjoyed the story, I would have stopped reading and given up out of frustration.


Abby, a mean girl cheerleader, receives a visit from karma in the form of leprosy. After being diagnosed with Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) Abby begins treatment at a clinic in Louisiana where she comes to terms with her illness and reevaluates her life.

I never expected to read a contemporary novel about a teenager with leprosy, so I did some research on the illness before beginning. I love that Ashley Little chose such a familia word, but unknown illness for Abby’s journey. The subplot with her brother Dean’s “business”, while also unique, felt more sensational and less fleshed out.

Due to formatting I wasn’t sure whether Abby talked about her Hansen’s before her diagnosis in the early chapters because it looked like copy that had been accidentally dropped in. If it was by design, I wish Little would have waited to have Abby discuss. If not I hope the ARC can be cleaned up for readers to get a better feel.